Tirreno-Adriatico stage 5 delivered a thrilling showdown between the General Classification contenders with Damiano Caruso battling it out in the closing kilometers of the day before eventually slipping into second overall with two stages remaining.

With less than 30 seconds separating the top five riders on the General Classification at the start of the day, stage 5 was set to produce a thrilling finale on the tough finishing circuit around Filottrano.

Earlier in the day, the BMC Racing Team-led peloton was happy to allow five riders to gain an advantage of 6’45” as the focus was on the three ascents of the brutal Muro di Filottrano and the tricky final run into the line.

The breakaway was being steadily pulled back over the second half of the stage and by the time the peloton reached the bottom of the climb for the first time, with 37km to go, the gap was sitting at inside two minutes.

Caruso continued to be well protected by his BMC Racing Team teammates as the bell rang to mark the start of the final lap and the last man standing from the early breakaway, Dario Cataldo (Astana Pro Team), was caught by a reduced bunch of around 35 riders with just 11km to go.

An intense pace was being set going past the 5km to go mark and it wasn’t long before the bunch exploded as Adam Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) launched himself off the front and was able to hold onto a narrow advantage to take the day's honors.

Behind Yates, Caruso and Greg Van Avermaet were part of a 20-rider chasing group that was working hard to try to close the gap going under the flamme rouge before sprinting for minor places on the drag up to the line.

Another strong performance from Caruso saw the Italian finish tenth in Filottrano but with Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) finishing third, and taking bonus seconds on the line, he slipped into second on the General Classification, three seconds back.

Quotes From the Finish Line

Damiano Caruso:

"I am honestly really happy after today's stage. It was the third really hard stage, and the team was perfect. They put me right on the front and worked a lot for Greg and me. In the final, Adam Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) went off alone and behind BORA-hansgrohe started to work to try to catch him. In the end, I only lost the jersey due to bonus seconds. Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) is really fast, but the race is still open. I am now only three seconds back and I still have cards to play on the final time trial. I am looking forward to it."